The authorities fear that 64 people aboard an American Airlines plane colliding with an army helicopter died in what could be the worst American air catastrophe in almost a quarter of a century.
At least 28 bodies were removed from the frozen water from the Potomac river after the helicopter apparently stolen on the jet trajectory at the end of the day while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, said the authorities. The plane was carrying 60 passengers and four crew members. Three soldiers were on board the helicopter.
“” We do not think there are survivors, “said John Donelly, head of firefighters in the American capital. “We are now to the point where we go from a rescue operation to a recovery operation ».
The plane was found reversed in three parts in water to size, and the first speakers search an area of the Potomac river to the Woodrow Wilson bridge, about 4.8 kilometers south of the airport . The helicopter wreck has also been found.
No information was immediately given on the cause of the collision, but the authorities said that the flight conditions were good when the plane arrived from Wichita (Kansas) with American artistic skaters on board and Russians as well as other people. He was preparing for a routine landing at the time of the collision.
“” As a final approach to national Reagan, the plane collided with a military plane during a normal approach “Said Robert Isom, CEO of American Airlines. “” Currently, we do not know why the military plane found itself on the plane trajectory. “
President Donald Trump was to be expressed on the accident later on Thursday from the White House.
The images of the river show boats around the partially submerged wing and the mutilated wreckage of the plane fuselage.
The investigators will try to reconstruct the last moments of the plane before the collision, in particular its contacts with the air controllers.
“” I would simply like to say that all those who fly in the American sky expect that we were safe “Said the Secretary of State for Transport, Sean Duffy.
“” When you leave an airport, you arrive at your destination. This is not what happened last night, and I know that President Trump, his administration, the FAA, the dowry, we will not rest until we have answers for families and For the flying public. You should be assured that when you take the plane, you are safe. He added.
It is not unusual that a military plane flies over the river and that a plane landed at the airport, he added. When the plane knew that there was a helicopter in the area, the latter replied that the helicopter was aware of an airplane in the area.
Asked that Donald Trump suggested in a message on social networks that the collision could have been avoided, Sean Duffy Duffy replied:
“” From what I have seen so far, I think this collision could have been avoided? Absolutet.
Hopes of finding passengers fall asleep
If all people aboard the plane have been killed, it would be the deadliest American air accident since November 12, 2001, when an American Airlines plane crashed in a residential area of Beautiful Harbor (New York), just after takeoff from Kennedy airport, killing the 260 people on board.
The latest large fatal accident involving an American commercial airline occurred in 2009 near Buffalo, in New York. All people aboard the Bombardier DHC-8 propeller plane were killed, including 45 passengers, two pilots and two on-board agents. Another person on the ground is also died, which brings the total number of deaths to 50. An investigation determined that the captain had accidentally caused the plane to drop out when he approached Buffalo airport.
ADVERTISEMENTThe passengers of the flight of Wednesday including a group of artistic skaters, their coaches and the members of their families returned from a development camp which followed the American championships for the figure skating in Wichita.
“” We are devastated by this indescribable tragedy and carry the families of the victims in our hearts “Said US Figure skating in a press release.
Two of these coaches were identified by the Kremlin as the Russian artistic skaters Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who won the title as a couple at the 1994 World Championships and participated twice in the Olympic Games. The skating club of Boston quotes them as coaches and their son, Maxim Naumov, is an artistic competition skater for the United States.
According to the FAA, the accident occurred before 9 p.m., in one of the most closely controlled and monitored air spaces in the world, just over 3 miles south of the White House and Capitol.
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